Jesko Raffin will race for NTS RW Racing GP in 2020. The team signed a one-year agreement with the 23-year-old Swiss. At the start of this season, Raffin already rode three races for the team as a substitute.

“The collaboration went very well on both sides,” says NTS RW Racing GP team manager Jarno Janssen. “We were impressed by what Jesko did in those races in Qatar, Argentina and the US. Not only from the results he achieved without the thorough preparation of the preseason, but also from the comments he had to improve the motorcycle. We had several options for 2020, but on our side everyone was unanimous about choosing Jesko. With him we get a strong and experienced rider in the team, who can mean a lot to us.”

“Like all the other chassis manufacturers, it is important also for us to keep on developing the bike, and I am sure we can benefit from Jesko’s accurate and productive comments”, adds the CEO of NTS, Masahiro Namatame. “Even though RW Racing GP is the only team with the NTS chassis, I am sure Jesko and the team also have a strong foundation to benefit from the power push of the Japanese brands we collaborate together such as KYB suspension system and SAKURA exhaust system.”

“My goal was to return to the Moto2 GP’s anyway,” says Jesko Raffin. “The collaboration with NTS RW Racing GP at the start of this season was so good that I had no doubt when 2020 came up. I know the team, the people and the machine and I am very happy with the trust, that is completely mutual. I am convinced that together we can do a good job.”

Zürich-based Raffin earned his spurs in the CEV Moto2 Championship, in which he became champion in 2014 and 2018, and in the Moto2 Grand Prix, in which he competed 65 times in total and in which he was regularly in the top 10. His best result so far was fourth in Australia in 2017. In 2018, Raffin was a test rider for Kalex and, like this year, he competed in a number of races as a substitute. In Qatar, Argentina and the USA, he finished 14th, 15th and 16th with the NTS of RW Racing GP as a substitute for the injured Steven Odendaal. Raffin competes in the MotoE for Dynavolt Intact GP this season.